SHIV HARI Vs. STATE (NCT OF DELHI)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant petitions, filed under Sec. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, before this Court are for quashing of the second supplementary charge sheets dtd. 16/8/2019 arising out of FIR No.354 /2017 dtd. 6/8/2017 registered at Police Station Lajpat Nagar for an offence under Sec. 304 IPC, and to set aside the order dtd. 3/3/2020 whereby the Ld. Additional Sessions Judge in Sessions Case No. 406/2017, summoned the Petitioners in criminal proceedings. The Petitioners in CRL. M.C. 934/2021 and CRL. M.C. 935/2021 were working as Assistant Engineer and Executive Engineer, respectively, with the Delhi Jal Board.

(2.) Shorn of details, the facts leading to instant petitions are that on 6/8/2017, four labourers were deputed by one Dinesh, a contractor employed with a private cleaning agency, for the task of cleaning 25 manhole covers of the Delhi Jal Board sewer line located opposite Sant Kanwar Mandir, Jal Vihar Road. It is stated that three out of four labourers died of asphyxiation due to inhaling poisonous gases inside one of the manhole covers. The surviving labourer, one Rakesh, stated that the contractor, Dinesh Kumar, had deputed four labourers for cleaning 25 sewer covers from Jal Sadan up to Ring Road but had refused to provide protective equipment such as masks to the labourers, despite multiple requests for the same. He stated that on the day of the incident, at around 12 PM, the complainant had gone to fetch a hammer and was not present at the place of the incident. He stated that the driver of the jetting vehicle informed him that his companion labourers had fainted inside one of the sewers and when they were brought to the hospital, they were declared dead. It is stated that the deaths have been caused due to the gross negligence on the part of the contractor and the deaths could have been easily avoided had the labourers been provided with masks and basic protection equipment. An FIR, being FIR No.354/2017, was registered under Sec. 304 IPC, on the basis of statements made by the complainant.

(3.) It is stated that during the course of investigation, two log books were seized from accused Kiran Pal for the months of July and August, 2017 and one log book was seized from accused SK Srivastava, JE of DJB for the month of August, 2017. It is stated that the Forensic Lab submitted a report ("FSL Report") of a hand writing expert with respect to the veracity of signatures on the front pages of the seized log books. It is stated in the FSL report that the log book seized from SK Srivastava, which was with respect to the movement of jetting machine for the month of August 2017, was fabricated inasmuch as the first page contained his antedated signatures along with that of the Petitioners herein. Based on this expert finding and on the basis of statements of witnesses and documents on record, the Petitioners herien were arrayed as accused parties on 16/8/2019 for the first time in FIR No.354/2017, filed through the impugned supplementary chargesheet under Sec. 173(8) CrPC, for offences under Sec. 177/196/197/218/467/468/471/120-B and later on, offences under Sec. 7 and 9 of Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013; and Sec. 3(1)(j) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015, were also added on the grounds that the Petitioners had in connivance and conspiracy with SK Srivastava created an antedated fabricated log book, to thereby save SK Srivastava through submiting misleading evidence before the Investigating Officer that would alter the course of investigations into the incident. It is also recorded that the charges are being imputed on the Petitioners without arrest on recognizance by placing their names in the chargesheet.